To College Or Not To College, That Is The Question?

By Sandra Harwitt

Back in the day, the subject of whether a talented tennis player should go to college or not was not even an issue. The American guys, they all went to college, played some tennis, took a few classes (some more than others), and then they set off to make their name on the tour.

I'm not talking about nobody's here. I'm talking about real players, even Grand Slam champions, who either graduated or spent some time in college.

The great Arthur Ashe whose name adorns the U.S. Open main stadium went to college. Stan Smith went to college. Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Brian Gottfried, Harold Solomon, they all went collegiate.

Nowadays, the trend tends to be not to go to college, especially for the best and brightest of the junior talent. No college for Pete Sampras, not even a high school diploma. An online high school diploma sufficed for Andre Agassi. Andy Roddick scored a high school diploma from Boca Prep, but skipped going to college to be cool on the tour.

But that doesn't mean that every American player on tour hasn't seen the benefits of the college experience.

There are nine American guys ranked in the top 100, which many find a rather unacceptable situation considering the size of the United States. But that's a subject for a different article on a different day.

Four of the nine guys hit the books for some amount of time -- No. 23 James Blake went to Harvard, No. 55 John Isner went to Georgia, No. 77 Robert Kendrick went to University of Washington and Pepperdine, and No. 100 Kevin Kim went to UCLA.

The five who went straight to the tour: No. 5 Andy Roddick, No. 22 Sam Querrey, No. 26 Mardy Fish, No. 75 Robby Ginepri, and No. 86 Wayne Odesnik.

I'll be upfront about the fact that I'm a proponent for heading to college.

Don't misunderstand my position. I clearly comprehend that there are many players that are ready to try their luck on the tour from the perspective of their tennis. While they definitely have room for improvement, they have the talent -- the forehands, the backhands, maybe even the serves and volleys -- to compete.

But they certainly wouldn't hurt from gaining some of the socialization skills and maturity that a college stint can deliver. And the grind and guts required to play at the collegiate level can be a huge plus.

One player who doesn't regret his college days -- a year as a Gator at the University of Florida -- is Jesse Levine. Currently ranked No. 135, Levine received a wildcard into the U.S. Open main draw where he led 16th seed Marin Cilic by two-sets-to-love before surrendering 4-6, 2-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-0 in the second round on Friday.

"Going to college, I wouldn't take that back for anything," Levine says. "That one year in college was amazing for me as a tennis player and a person. I don't feel like I'm a year behind.

"Look at the draw....you have Jesse Witten into the third round who went to Kentucky. You have John Isner into the third round who went to Georgia. There are so many guys out there with college experience and it's nothing but a benefit."

Former Davis Cup captain Tom Gullikson, who went to college before he played the tour, and is now in his second stint as an official USTA coach, considers college a choice that young players need to ponder.

"I think it's an individual decision and I don't think there's any one right call," Gullikson says. "Everybody has a different pathway to the pro tour and if you want to use college as a pathway to the pro tour I think you can still do that. I really do, especially on the men's side. It's probably a little bit more difficult to do on the women's side as there isn't a good history of women going to college and having success on the tour."

Historical Note From September 4

In 1959 on this day, a 16-year-old Arthur Ashe makes his U.S. National Championships debut. He loses to a more accomplished 21-year-old Rod Laver in straight sets. But the stage is set for Ashe, who would eventually win the title in 1968, one of three Grand Slam trophies the elegant serve-and-volleyer would earn. A bright light in tennis, Ashe passed away in February 1993 from AIDS, which he acquired from a bad blood transfusion during open heart surgery.